What to do with Ground Beef?

I'm not dissing, here's ,the problem I find with ground beef recipes, this is just my opinion. For some strange reason people find the need to make it as unhealthy as possible, just seems to be the nature of the beast. I'm seeing posts for a tater tot casserole? For real??? people actually still eat those things, balls of saturated fat, with zero nutrional value. Try to nix the white potatoes as well, that shepherds pie can be made so many different ways, and always halve the meat in it, if you're using ground beef,. and ground turkey and chicken can actually be higher in fat for you then some lean ground beefs. I make my guys suffed cabbage leaves with ground chicken breast, youcould use beef if you HAVE to :laugh: Mix it in with mushrooms, red peppers, brown rice tomatoes and a litte sauce, precook the cabbage, and roll up cabbage roll style, drizzle the tomatoe sauce over top and bake, my daughter puts cheese in hers, but I don't eat cheese so i leave it out,..very tasty.

FOR REAL question here........what makes ground turkey or chicken any better than low fat beef? I swear, I read every package in the meat case and besides the turkey sausage (which has like 1 g of fat less, but isnt loaded with nitrates) I could not find a reason to eat the bird instead of the beast.

I truly would like to know because if I am missing a healthy reason, I will switch PRONTO!!

But I will STILL make me sheps pie :laugh:

bump

I like cooking up ground beef w/taco spice and then adding it to my salads. You can get low sodium spice, which taste awesome, actually I find it tastes alot better than the original. Its nice to if you buy you beef from a farmer rather than the store, when you take it in you can choose how lean you want it . I also like mixing mushroom soup with g.beef and spreading it over potatoes....Mmmmmm

Has anyone looked into using ground bison? It is very low in fat, high in protein and very good tasting.

Venison is good as well, and depending on where you live and who you know, free of cost.

I like Bison, it's very expensive to buy it here though!

I use bison whenever I can, but I agree, it has gotten very expensive! When I first started buying it about three years ago, it was $4.99 per pound. Now, I'm finding it for $6.99 per pound! However, that being said...the last time I bought it at Costco, it came in a double pack (of 1 pound each pack), and it was around $9.59. Just as an FYI, I found this:

"Studies have shown that bison is very high in iron and protein, yet it is lower in cholesterol, calories and fat than beef, chicken and pork. In fact, bison has one third less cholesterol and fat than even boneless chicken breasts!"

Thanks too all!

I realize that ground beef isn't the healthiest choice. Chicken, ground turkey etc. is much much healthier. However because this is what my family enjoys I was just looking to see if anyone did have any healthy ideas when I did make it. But as I seen and as message ground beef just really doesnt accompany very healthy meals-typically!

cheers

I use ground sirloin instead. You have to watch the ground turkey. Not all of it is lower in fat. Also, sometimes you just want some red meat, and no amount of chicken or turkey or whatever is going to replace it.

Costco sells a Kirkland ground beef that is 9% fat, very lean, but still good. It is already frozen in 1lb bundles. A little more expensive but worth it. I use it to make Sloppy Joes. I know, doesn't sound healthy, but it is all in how you make it right?

So for the meat portion.

1 pound of ground beef, cook it with a lillte butter, just a little, maybe a tablespoon. Put aside.
Take some chooped onions and peppers, camalize, not necessarily onion and pepper strips, but diced. Season of course, with salt and pepper.
You can cook up some mushrooms to add as well, optional i guess.

For the sloppy joe sauce.
3/4 cup of 1 carb heinze ketchup,
3 teaspoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
salt and pepper to season

Once this is all done mix it all up together and put on a wheat roll or just eat it plain.

This is going for a low sugar count as well as a low calorie but with flavor. The roll I use is a cracked wheat roll (Alpicella) that is 210 calories but low sugar.

The meat is about 190 Calories with 4.2 ozs after cooking
The peppers, onions and mushrooms are about 40 calories
The butter is about 36 calories
the Ketchup is about 15 since you get about 3 tablespoons in the mix
Brown sugar is 15
Yellow mustard is about 2

So a total of aprox 300 calories for the sloppy joe portion. The Roll would be a majority depending on the type. It is good plain too!

Hope this helps.

Rod

My friend makes something called "hamburger soup" which sounds a lot like "hamburger pie" it uses tomato soup and it's so tasty. As for the hamburger helper, if you love pasta like me, swap the hamburger helper for some whole wheat pasta, much healthier for you and less calories. Another thing you could try is stuffed peppers!

Mix it up with cinnamon, chilli, garlic, curry powder, tumeric and some fennel, roll into little balls, grill or fry with frylight and make a kofta curry using passata for the sauce and dribble with low fat natural yoguhurt......just over 300 calories a serving and yummy!

This sounds great but how do you make a kofta curry and what is passata?

I buy a pound brown it with onions then divide it in half. I make vegetable soup with half and the other half I make spaghetti with. The soup makes about 27 cups. It is homemade so there is a lot less sodium than canned.